Here at Renovatio Records, we wanted to start 2023 with a
bang, so our first release of the year is the score for the blockbuster Avatar
by late composer James Horner. Directed by James Cameron and starring Sam
Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Stephen Lang, Michele Rodriguez, Giovanni Ribisi, and
Sigourney Weaver, the 2009 film is an epic science fiction set in the mid-22nd
century, when humans are colonizing the habitable moon Pandora in the Alpha Centauri
star system with the purpose of mining the mineral unobtanium. Conflict arises
when the mining colony threatens the local indigenous tribe of the Na’vi, a
race of blue-skinned humanoid creatures who, as expected, do not enjoy having
the humans exploiting their beautiful planet. Sam Worthington plays Jake Sully,
a disabled corporal sent to Pandora as part of the Avatar Program, which sees
humans operating genetically engineered Na’vi bodies remotely with their brains,
to infiltrate and interact with the natives of Pandora. While on an expedition
in the Pandoran forests, Jake’s avatar is attacked by wildlife and rescued by
Neytiri (Saldaña), a female Na’vi who takes him to her clan and teaches him of
their customs. Soon, Jake sees himself torn between his military duty and his
new found love and respect for the aliens.
Even though the plot is quite simple and modeled after the
American interactions with Iraq in the 2000’s, the film is thought-provoking in
regards to environmental awareness while also delivering on cinematic action.
Drawing concepts from works such as Dances with Wolves, Pocahontas, and even
Starship Troopers, the film asks audiences to examine their views and
prejudices on deep topics such as colonization, facism, obliteration of native
cultures, and exploitation of natural resources. At the time of its release,
Avatar quickly became the highest-grossing movie of its time, while also being highly
praised for its groundbreaking visual effects, which makes extensive use of
motion capture filming techniques –achieved
in cooperation with Weta Digital. Furthermore, the film was so successful that
Cameron went on to develop four more sequels, the first of which (Avatar: The
Way of Water) was recently released in late 2022 and once more broke various
box office records.
Also the recipient of much attention was Avatar’s musical
score, for which Cameron turned to James Horner. The two had previously
collaborated on Aliens (1986), an infamous and unpleasant assignment for
Horner, and on Titanic (1997), for which Horner earned an Academy Award. For
Avatar, the composer devoted eighteen months of work to develop a sound palette
that would represent the Na’vi culture and the visual bioluminescence of
Pandora. And it shows, for the result is one of Horner’s most distinguishable scores, not only
because of its unique and captivating sounds, but also because it remains a
solid representation of Horner’s musical career and contributions to the world
of film music. The score works as a sort of "Greatest Hits" compilation; you will hear snippets and nods to several of Horner’s previous
scores such as The Four Feathers, Troy, Aliens, Titanic, Mighty Joe Young,
Apocalypto, among many others. To get an early idea of what is to come, Horner
introduces his effective signature four-note danger motif within the first
minute of the first track “You Don’t Dream In Cryo”, a motif that is later used
prominently in the second half of the score to accompany the death of nature
provoked by the greedy humans. Horner’s detractors may jump on this "recycling" approach, but one
cannot deny that the composer kept raising the bar with each new assignment,
showcasing his impressive dramatic sense and masterful compositional skills.
That being said, Avatar is a richly thematic score. Horner introduces his main
theme for Avatar in the latter half of “Jake Enters His Avatar World”, and it
consists namely of a series of four chord progressions, which are a stripped
variation of Titanic’s love theme. This idea is listened throughout the score,
sometimes in the form of humble violin, woodwind and synth performances (“Pure
Spirits of the Forest”), and also played by the full ensemble in “Become One Of
The People”. It is in this track that Horner fully depicts his intentions with
this chord progression, making it part of a larger theme. The progression
represents Jake’s growing love for the beauty and nature of Pandora, which is
later combined with the discovery theme introduced by a solo boy’s voice in
“Become One Of The People”, a montage cue which shows Jake learning of the
customs and lives of the Na’vi. The main four-chord idea goes on to eventually cement
itself as Avatar’s love theme, as Jake and Neytiri bond and become in love.
There are two more prominent themes in the score, one
representing the Na’vi culture, which is very derivative of Horner’s main theme
for The Four Feathers. The theme is introduced in full at the beginning of
“Becoming One With Neytiri”, and is further explored during the “The
Destruction of Hometree”, before becoming the Na’vi’s battle theme in “Gathering
All the Na'vi Clans for Battle”, where it generates momentum during the first
half and then reaches a full orchestral climax that will sends shivers down
your spine. This theme is later used effectively during the battle sequences of
the film’s climax, to highlight the heroic yet futile efforts of the Na’vi’s to fight with the technologically advanced humans. The other main idea is an
ascension theme that is first heard during “Climbing Up Iknimaya”, on
children’s choir and percussion, and then on the glorious “Jake’s First
Flight”, with the love theme effectively playing as an interlude. The ascension
idea is related to Jake’s assimilation of the Na’vi culture, as he rediscovers
his purpose in life. This theme fittingly appears at the end of the film when
Jake fully embraces the Na’vi culture and becomes one of them, in mind and in
body. These three main identities and the way Horner intertwines them with one
another speak of how complex and subtle the composition for Avatar is,
narratively accompanying Jake’s journey and quickly captivating the listener,
the same way the film visuals captivated the audiences. Horner’s four-chord
progression alone is so pleasant and appealing that you cannot help but to wait
for it to reappear throughout the score. This once more shows the composer’s
talent to capture the essence of a film and its scenes, even when using the
same techniques and instruments he resorted to many times in his career.
Things turn sour in “Diplomacy Fails”, when the human’s
menacing force starts to become more and more apparent, with brass and
militaristic snare taking the lead. By the time we reach “Shutting Down Grace’s
Lab”, the aftermath of the human’s greed strikes like an arrow through your
chest, with haunting vocalizations accentuated by the four-note danger motif
expressing a mournful sense of overwhelming tragedy. After the force generated
by “Gathering All the Na'vi Clans for Battle”, we enter into 20 minutes of
rousing action music, comprised by “War”, “Quaritch Down” and “Fight To The
Death”. The battle music displayed here indeed has themes and motifs battling
each other, a clear example being the way in which the Na’vi battle theme
establishes itself as a response to the military motif at the 0:50 mark of "War". While
the action passages are far overshadowed by the romantic side of the score, they
are certainly impressive and rank among the most thoughtful action material
Horner has ever written.
The score ends with the pop song “I See You” by Leona Lewis,
with the score introduction by Horner, as heard in the film. Though criticized for
having too much post-processing, the song actually makes an interesting use of
the discovery and love themes, its chorus being the already well-established
four-chord progression.
Back in 2009, the score for Avatar received two album presentations by Atlantic Records, one being a regular physical CD release, and the other being a Deluxe digital release with 20 additional minutes of music. Though both releases are quite generous in the amount of music they provide, the first one lacked most of the cues from the climax, and the second one presented the new additions at the end of the album, disrupting the listening experience. This new release by Renovatio Records addresses these issues and provides new unreleased music, as well as film versions of several cues, all presented in chronological order in the form of a 2-CD presentation. The program has namely the film’s first act in CD 1, focusing on Jake’s journey of falling in love with Pandora and Neytiri, while the conflict and action cues are mostly reserved for CD 2. We kindly invite you to revisit Pandora once more with this new album. You will see that there is still plenty to admire.
